Liv's Mulligan
by TStabler
Summary: Mulligan: a retaken shot, in golf, when you've messed up the first time. A do-over. Detective Benson wishes she could go back and take a mulligan, a second chance to stop her partner from making a huge mistake. What happens when someone makes it possible?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yep, Another AU-ish type fic, with another impossible situation, but it's my imagination, and isn't that what fiction is about? I like re-writing history. =)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters are courtesy of Dick Wolf, everything else you see in black and white, the words and the emotion, the passion and the pain, that's all mine, baby. Tstabler©**

It was one of those nights where everything seemed wrong with the world. They'd lost a vic, the suspect was going to get away with it, and _he_ was going back to his wife, for the third time, because, surprise, she was having a baby. He wasn't even _happy_ about it and he was going back home to _her_, to that _vile _woman. Not one to drown her sorrows, but thinking that these were extenuating circumstances, Olivia stepped into O'Rielly's Pub and sat at the bar.

"Rough night, Detective B?"

"Oh, Charlie, you have no idea. Give me a double, straight up, on the rocks."

"One extra large cherry soda, heavy on the ice, coming right up," the young man said as he scooted down the counter. He game back with her soda and a shot of a brown liquid. "I know you don't drink, but this is a special shot. You tell me what happened, make a wish, take a shot with me, and you'll wake up tomorrow and your problems will all be gone."

She laughed, then stilled, twirling the shot glass on the counter, not spilling a drop. "Have you ever just wanted to take a mulligan, Chuck?"

"A what?" Charlie poured himself a shot and sat on his stool.

"A mulligan. It's a retaken shot, in golf, because you fucked up irrevocably the first time. Like a do-over." Olivia took the shot glass between her fingers and lifted it, peered through the amber liquid and told Charlie, "I would kill for a big-ass mulligan right now. I want a do-over."

"Why, Detective B? You have an awesome life. You're hot, you're successful and you get to save the world," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, I would still be hot," she said laughing. "I'd still be a cop, I'd still be with SVU, I'd want to go back just far enough to," she paused and took a breath, realizing she was going to say this out loud. "Just far enough to make my move before it was too late. Make him fall for me the way I've fallen for him, take some chances, lose a little inhibitions and maybe, just for one goddamn moment, grab life by the balls and make myself happy."

"Okay," Charlie said. He raised his shot glass, tapped it gently against hers, and said "I hope you get your mulligan, Detective B. Here's to second chances."

"What the hell," she said as she raised the shot to her lips and swallowed the bitter beverage back without flinching. It burned, but it was so good. She spent the next half hour drinking her soda and chatting with Charlie. At half past two in the morning, she decided it was time to go. Bidding him a farewell, she paid Charlie for the soda, the shot and left a large tip.

Once she got home, she took a quick shower, threw on some old NYPD sweats and a tank-top and curled into bed. Just as she was drifting off to dreamland, the alarm buzzed loudly in her ear and she swatted at it, her eyes still closed. What the fuck? Hadn't she just fallen asleep? It couldn't be five already...could it? She ran a hand through her hair and her eyes shot open. She could have sworn her hair was longer yesterday. Maybe yesterday was such shit that she just didn't pay attention to her own locks.

She rolled out of the bed and padded into the bathroom, running the water to brush her teeth. She put the paste on the brush, shoved it in her mouth and started brushing rapidly when she looked up, and when she saw her reflection in the mirror she almost choked. Maybe she was too distracted to notice her hair length, but she was _certain_ that it wasn't this _color_ yesterday. In fact, it hadn't been _this_ light in _years_.

She shook her head, thinking she was being silly, finished brushing her teeth and started to dress for work. She spent twenty minutes going through her closet, stunned to find things that she could have sworn she'd given to Goodwill. Finally, fearing she'd be late, she threw on black slacks, a blue sweater over a white tee-shirt and her leather jacket. She grabbed her keys, gun and badge and ran out the door. She was terribly confused.

She walked into the bullpen carrying two cups of hot coffee, placing one on Elliot's desk and one on hers before hanging up her jacket and checking her e-mail. She turned on her computer, logged into the NYPD Database and had a mild heart-attack at the date flashing at the top of the screen. If memory served, this was the day that filled her heart with regret. This was the day she wanted to go back to. For today was the first time Elliot came in to the sqaud room, too early for him, walked right up to her, and told her...

"Kathy left me, Liv," he whispered softly as he stood behind her chair. "She just left. She didn't even say goodbye to the kids. Who does that?"

Olivia turned, her eyes opened wide and watery. The first time this happened, she held him, comforting him, and convinced him to find her and work things out. She would be damned if she was going to do _that_ again.

"Oh, God, El," she cried as she rose from her seat and threw her arms around him. He pulled her to him so tightly she was worried about possibly cracking a rib. She pushed away a bit, easing out of his vice-like grip. "I am so sorry. Do you..." she stopped as she looked at him. The pain in his eyes, the sorrow oozing from every pore. She could almost hear his heart breaking. She couldn't possibly be this selfish. This was a horrible idea, she was putting him through hell all over again because _she_ wanted him. Way to go, Benson. She had to make it right again. "Do you want me to talk to her? Do you want her back?"

It came out better that way. She didn't ask what _he_ wanted the first time, she had been so _pushy_, practically _forcing_ them back together. Maybe, if it was _his_ choice, she'd feel less guilty about this.

"Honestly? No," he said. He took off his jacket and hung it up, next to hers, and walked over to his side of their joined desks. "Thanks, anyway, Liv. I think this is good. I mean, the Catholic in me thinks I'm going to burn in hell for getting divorced, but it also knows that if I don't, I'm gonna burn in hell for adultery sooner or later."

"What?" she asked in a yell, shocked and a bit amused. He didn't say _that_ the first time this happened. "You would never cheat on Kathy, El. That isn't you."

"Wanna bet, Liv? You have no idea how hard it has been to control myself around, uh, this one chick, woman," he paused and cleared his throat, "for the past five years. I was two seconds away from saying 'fuck it' and taking the girl out anyway, but now that Kathy's up and left me, I don't have to be the bad guy here. She kind of, did me a favor, really."

Oh, shit. That's why Elliot was so horrified when she had pushed so strongly for a reconciliation. There was someone else he'd already wanted. But who? Who else was Bad-Ass Benson gonna have to kill?

"Um, five years is a long time to want something you weren't allowed to have, El." She was speaking from personal experience. "If you tell me who it is, I might be able to put in a good word for you."

Elliot chuckled as he sipped his coffee. "Huang would have to come in and evaluate you, Liv. They usually commit people who talk to themselves."

"Well, fine, if you don't want my help just say, you don't have to laugh at...wait...what?" Before he could reply, her cell phone went off and she was surprised to see an unrecognizable number on her caller ID. "Benson."

"How's your mulligan going, Detective B? Ya sink a hole in one this time?"

"Charlie! You beautiful, marvelous man! I could kiss you! Well, I mean, if you weren't only nineteen right now."

"Hey, Detective B, it's a mulligan. You get one shot. One do-over. Everything goes back to normal tomorrow, but things that change today stick, so make it happen." He hung up and Olivia looked back at Elliot, who was confused and slightly hurt. "Oh, um, that was a friend's, um, son. He did me the world's biggest favor." He nodded, smirked and sipped his coffee.

"El, look. Why don't we tell Cragen what happened with you and Kathy. He'll let you go, and I'll tell him I need to be with you for emotional support. I just, um, wanna spend the day with you. No work, no perps, no vics, just you and me."

"That is the best idea you have had in a very long time."

* * *

They were walking down the street, arms full of stuffed animals and cotton candy, yet still managing to hold hands. "I can not believe you took me to the circus, El. You know I hate clowns!"

"Yeah, well, I protected you from the evil things, didn't I? Besides, I've always wanted to take a girl on a date to the circus. Kathy looked at me like I was nuts every time I mentioned it, but I knew you'd dive in head first, Liv. You're fearless."

"Yeah, I think I proved how fearless I am when we went to the top of the Empire State Building and I squealed like a little girl. I'm _real_ brave," she said sarcastically.

He stopped and pulled on her hand, causing her to stop, too. He let go of her hand and took hold of her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Bravest woman I know. To see things you see, and deal with things the way you do, I mean, guys like me and Munch and Fin, we're built to handle it. You, you're not, you have to _make_ yourself handle it. You are _so_ brave, Liv, and I am amazed by you."

Stunned, she blinked, caught her breath and said a quick, "Thanks, El." She brought her free hand up to where his was resting under her chin and clutched it again, linking their fingers. "I had an amazing day, El. I mean it, if this it, if this was my one day with you, then I'm happy."

"What are you on about, Liv? One day?" His brow furrowed. he looked at her with a mix of shock and amusement in his eyes.

"I can't explain it, El. Please, don't ask me to, but, I have this horrible feeling that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and you're going to decide you belong with Kathy, and that's great if that's really what you want. I just wanted to let you know that this was an amazing day."

"Okay, you nutjob, I will not decide that I belong with Kathy tomorrow. I haven't _belonged_ with her in years. And I agree, this has been an amazing day. A day that I've been looking forward to for five years, Liv." He laughed as her eyes widened. "Yeah, I was talking about you. You were the product of many a late-night fantasy, oh partner of mine."

Olivia decided. If this was it, if she only had until tomorrow, then what did tonight really mean? What did it matter? If his true feelings didn't change by morning, he would be back with Kathy with no memory of this day ever happening. This was _her_ mulligan, and goddamn it she was gonna milk it for all it was worth. "El, you know, if we're being honest here, I've been in love with you since the moment we met, too. And I don't know what you're feeling, or what you want, but just because the sun is setting doesn't mean this has to end." She looked into his beautiful blue eyes. "Come home with me, Elliot."

**A/N: So does he go home with her? What will happen in the morning? Who the hell is Charlie? On to chapter two, or would you care to review? (Oh, that rhymed!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So...did she wake up in the arms of Elliot, or did all go back to it's horrible pre-mulligan ways? **

**DISCALIMER: All characters belong to Dick Wolf. I just make them do my own crazy cha-cha once in a while. IP is mine. TSabler©**

The alarm went off at five, like it did every morning. She blinked a few times and ran her hand down her stomach, remembering what it felt like to have him inside of her last night. All three times. All three hours. She could still hear his sexy growls and moans and feel his kiss on her lips. She looked over to her left and sighed. It wasn't as if she truly expected him to be there, but she had hoped, for a brief moment, that the shot in the dark she'd taken would have worked.

She walked into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, looked up in the mirror and had her longer, darker hair back. She ran a hand through her hair, catching the sight of something odd in the reflection. She panicked and screamed, falling backward into the tub.

She heard footsteps. Someone was in her apartment and instead of being on her feet with her gun in her hand she was flailing around like a fish out of water, wrapped up in her shower curtain like a burrito. The footsteps came closer, stopping in the bathroom.

"Liv, baby, what happened? Are you okay?"

"A little help, please?" she asked trying to shove the curtain out of the way to see who had come to her rescue, calling her baby. Strong arms reached into the tub, pulling her up with little effort, and masculine hands ripped the curtain off of her body. Elliot stood before her, checking every inch of her body for injury. "Where did you come from?"

"The kitchen," he said with a raised eyebrow. She blinked again before looking around and realizing that this was _not_ her apartment. Where the hell was she? "I know we haven't been here that long, but, Christ, honey, it's been long enough to remember where the bathtub is," he said as he kissed her, quite passionately for a kiss in the bathroom.

"No, I just, um, something scared me, and I fell back into the...thing."

He looked around the bathroom, checking for large spiders, the only thing, besides clowns, that might frighten her. "What scared you, Liv?"

"This," she said, holding her left hand up to face him.

"You gettin' cold feet on me?" he said with a smirk.

She shook her head and laughed. Lying through her teeth she siad, "No, I guess, um, I woke up and I, uh, forgot how big the ring was and I saw the reflection in the mirror and thought it was a bug or something."

He chuckled as he nuzzled into her neck. "You're too much. Speaking of the wedding, Maureen wants to know if she can un-invite Rob. They broke up again." He kissed her, a deep, searing kiss, and in a miraculous flash, all of the memories from the last three years filled her mind and her heart, and my God, they had an incredible life.

She pulled away, slowly, and sighed, looking lovingly into his eyes. "Hey, you wouldn't wanna stay home today, would ya?"

"What would we do, oh scheming gal of mine?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

She raked her nails up his arm and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him closer. "We would get back into that bed and..."

"Dad! Dickie stole my English essay!" A shrill voice yelled from the kitchen.

"I did not, Lizzie! I'm only borrowing it!"

"Ugh, Mom!" Lizzie ran into the bedroom and stopped in their bathroom doorway. "Do something! He's getting milk and slobber all over it and I can't tell Mrs. Jenkins the dog ate my homework. No matter how close to truth it is, it's still highly implausible!"

"Okay," Elliot said, pushing his daughter out of the room to save her homework. Just as Olivia was going to follow, she was stopped by another blonde beauty. "Mom, can I borrow that black satin shirt with the dangling chain things on it?"

"Uh, I own one of those?" Kathleen nodded. "Yeah, sure, closet."

"Thanks," Kathleen said, kissing Olivia on the cheek before rummaging through the moderately large walk-in closet her parents shared.

It had surprised Olivia to remember, so abruptly, that all of his kids, with the exception of Maureen, who still lovingly called her "Livia'", had taken to calling her "mom", since she'd stepped into the role full-time so soon after Kathy left. They haven't heard a single thing from her since that day, three years ago. She'd even gone so far as to mail in her signed divorce papers with a few written statements for the lawyers so she wouldn't have to be present at the custody hearing.

The more she looked around at her new life, the more she couldn't imagine her life any differently. How could anyone who had all of this ever willingly walk away? No matter how hard it was, a couple who was truly in love and truly happy should be able to make things work. That's what Olivia swore she would do, now that God, fate, or whoever Charlie really was had given her a second chance.

Elliot had finally wrestled Lizzie's essay away from Dickie, and he walked back into the bedroom as Kathleen ran out, with an armful of Olivia's shirts, and went back upstairs to change. "I'm calling Cragen, and we are taking the day off. A little shopping, a little eating and a whole lot of loving," he said with a seductive look in his eyes. "I have this intense desire to make you scream today, seeing as how you can't really do that with the kids in the house."

"I love the way you think, Stabler," Olivia quipped as she padded out of the room to see that all of the kids made it out of the door to their respective busses on time, leaving Elliot to make the call to the captain.

* * *

They had a pretty amazing day. They spent a terrific part of the morning ravaging each other silly in bed, and Elliot did, in fact, make Olivia scream. A couple of times. They had a quick shower, together, and then headed into the city to do some shopping, buying a new shower curtain, and they grabbed some lunch. They were walking down a familiar street when Olivia stopped in front of a building that wasn't supposed to be there.

"Wasn't this O'Rielly's Pub?" She asked.

"What?" Elliot asked with a start and a yelp. "No idea what you're talking about, baby. That's always been a steakhouse that we could never afford to go to."

"El," she said, pushing the door open, "Come on. Humor me."

He shrugged, following her through the exquisite wooden doors. She stepped up into the lavish, elegant restaurant and looked around. He had to be here somewhere. There's no reason that his life shouldn't be better, too, right? Hadn't he taken a shot? Hadn't he been given a second chance?

"Detective B," a voice chimed from her left.

She spun around and looked at the devilishly handsome twenty-two year old. "Charlie," she sighed. She couldn't help it, she let the tears fall and pulled him into a tight hug. "Charlie, this is..."

"Detective S, yeah, we've met." Charlie reached out and shook Elliot's hand. Elliot, looking quite confused and a bit scared, glanced nervously at Olivia.

"How do you two know each other?" Elliot asked. "I mean, I know Charlie, but I never, I didn't think..."

"Yeah. I should have mentioned that. In order for these things to work, all parties involved have to want the same thing. They've all gotta be willing to take a shot." Charlie sighed and ran a hand through his luscious black hair. "Detective B, your, uh, fiancée here was in a booth, directly behind you, the same night you came into my bar, asking for the same damn thing."

"What?" she asked with a disbelieving laugh.

"It's true, Liv," Elliot said, wrapping his arms around her. "I wanted this life as much as you did, and when I woke up yesterday to the sound of Kathy screaming at me and I looked at the kids and saw how young they were I was in shock. It actually worked. That's why I was so forward with you, flat out telling you not to go talk to Kathy, because I didn't want her. I wanted you. And when you told me to go back to your place, that night, Christ, Liv, I didn't think you were gonna be there in the morning so I gave you everything I had in those few hours." He gulped, looked her in the eyes and blinked away a tear. "My phone rang this morning at three, and when I woke up to answer it, I was in this huge house, with you lying next to me, and Charlie was on the other end of the phone explaining what had happened. I got up to look around the house and everything came rushing back. Memories I don't remember remembering, but now I'm so glad I do."

"I also told him that since you two had been so deliriously happy at work, you've been kicking some supreme ass. You're, like, the best team in the NYPD. IAB's even looking the other way as far as you're concerned. Munch and Fin are crazy jealous, but they don't show it because they love you dearly, and my father couldn't be prouder of you two."

"Your father?" Olivia asked.

Charlie laughed. "Did you even look at the sign when you came in?"

Olivia and Elliot looked back at the door and gasped. Hanging above the entrance, in gold letters, was a carved sign. "CC's Steakhouse. Owned and Operated by Charles D. Cragen."

"Don took a mulligan that night, too. Only a few hours before you showed up. Made his wife call in sick. She wasn't on that flight. Here I am."

"So, I take it you're already invited to the wedding?" Olivia asked, with a tear sliding down her cheek. As Charlie nodded, it became clear that sometimes, even when it seems hopeless and impossible, taking a shot, taking a chance, and hoping for a little bit of help from a guardian angel, really can change a person's life. It had made miracles happen for three of New York's finest, and they were so grateful for their one mulligan, their one do-over, their one second chance to get things right. Something everyone deserves, once in a lifetime.

**A/N: So there you have it. Was it okay, or do I need a mulligan?**


End file.
